always buying, selling, trading, and very often using antique and vintage corkscrews

Monthly Archives: January 2006

Okay… so a while back, I manged to get this corkscrew on ebay (big surprise) and after applying a little brass polish revealed a registration number, and sadly a small crack. Still, it was quite unique and I took pictures and sent them off to the corkscrewy minds of the world.

A couple of days ago, I was asked if I would be willing to trade or sell the piece to a collector in the UK. I said, "sure," and awaited his offer. Before his trade bait pictures arrived, CB said he wanted it as well. And, has now invoked a new mantra of ‘Keep it in the Family," referring to a small select group of friends that collect, as opposed to trading it outside this group.

And, then the trade bait arrived. A vicktoria bell, viragengo patent, gamble registration, wolverson roll over, marked mcbride, and a cool looking two column german spring that doesn’t turn up very often. I was supposed to pick one from this grouping, and I only have a mcbride…so, after wiping my drool of the computer, I did what anyone in my position would do. I sent an email asking for advice.

I received some different responses: 1) the choice is simple, ask for the most expensive one, 2) viktoria bell, viranego, mcbride AND the wolverson, and 3) from CB, who said "don’t trade it to him, Keep it in the family."

So…I am in a bit of a dilemma…trade to Chris, trade to this cat in the UK, say I want more… or, what to pick in exchange.

After hearing rumor about a collection for sale, I decided to drop a line to the Canadian collector that was looking to move his corkscrews. After several emails, the collection is enroute to our humble abode in Chicago.

It isn’t filled with rarities as such, but the gemelli patent clowns, barmaids, barmen, and others will make a welcome addition…also, it looks like there may be some other hidden treasures in there…and, could there be one or two that aren’t pictured?

I lost out on another corkscrew the other day. The listing ended early, with a couple of bidders on it already. After emailing the seller to see if he was going to relist, he explained the item "was no longer for sale…" One can only gather that meant that he sold it already and thanks for playing along. Well, enough is enough. It is time to hoist my own Jolly Roger and join into the fray.

After a couple of tries, I think a proper pirate flag is ready (and pictured below).

I guess it would make sense that over time, lund levers and their screw counterparts would inevitably get separated; they are two pieces afterall. They same would hold true for the tangent, and other similarly designed corkscrews.

I managed to snag an unsually marked lund lever this morning. And, of course it is missing its screw part. If anyone has an extra feel free to drop me a line.

Should the screw match the badge on the lever? Or, would an unmarked one suffice… This one is marked "DEANE & CO., LONDON BRIDGE, LONDON LEVER"

Well, school is back in session… DePaul’s Winter quarter started last week, and MXC begins today. So, back to grading papers and reading this wacky person’s dissertation on reconceptualizing curriculum. In her paper she later goes on to say it is really a reconceptualization of curriculum…so would that make the folk curriculumreconceptualizationalists? I am thinking yes…

On a corkscrew note, someone pirated a wilmot and rogers marked henshall from ebay yesterday…a high, but nice buy at 50 gbp…

If you are a regular reader, you know that I was given a small collection to sell. Some already have left the corkscrewy homestead, and some still remain. So, I figured I would post the 10 here, to see if anyone decides to drop a line and make an offer…

I had lunch with another collector today, and he brought some goodies with him. He is moving and wants to part with some of his collection, and we agreed that I would ebay (or sell) some items for him for a fee. After negotiating what that fee should be, and having a black and tan… I took the box of items home, took pictures, and started emailing a couple of friends.

Now the total fee has yet to be completely determined…however, a playmate for the celluloid snappy gator corkscrew was part of the deal. Marked "GES. GESCHUTZT," and "GERMANY," She is pictured below.

Well, no sooner asked than the corkscrew gods, or rather the farrow and jackson barrel tap gods, smile upon me.

I had been watching this barrel tap for a couple of days, and it seemed to be getting little action. Then suddenly a 20 gbp buy it now shows up… Well, thank you to the farrow and jackson pirate who managed to get this one added on. I am thinking Bristow…but, he has been silent for a month…

Well, it has been a few days full of coughing, drinking lots of tea, coughing, ricolas, and now antibiotics and cough syrup with codeine…(we are rather fond of the codeine part)

Hopefully over the next couple of days, I will be on the mend…but, some throat thing got to me…and I have been down for the count since Friday.

There have been some interesting items on ebay…the best being a strait patent…and, I am still waiting on some missing corkscrews that were promised two months ago, but have still yet to arrive. Oh well, they weren’t fabulous one’s anyway…

School is back in session for DePaul, so I am back to reading about curriculum theory and doing quantitative statistics…

on a more important note:...the lovely’s birthday is this friday!!! (and, she collects shiny silvery corkscrews, if you are so inclined)

Well, apparently the corkscrew pirates didn’t have a resolution of amending their buccaneering ways. Only a couple of days into the new year, and it has happened again. A small collection of corkscrews was listed with a low start. And, within hours a buy it now for a fraction of the price was added, and the listing is no more. This one was interesting as it looked to have a bennit patent corkscrew and one of those little penguin pieces with bakelite sheath. All for a pirate’s price of 30 bucks!!!!!!